STANDRIDGE, J. During their marriage, Debra and David Traster executed a postmarital agreement setting forth the respective legal rights and obligations of each spouse in the event the marriage did not survive. After more than 25 years of marriage, David filed for divorce and — contrary to the terms of the postmarital agreement — requested the court equitably divide the marital property. Debra moved for partial summary judgment, asking the district court to find that the postmarital agreement...
HILL, J. In this appeal, we overturn the district court's ruling that Joseph R. Koch acquired a prescriptive easement in a roadway on land owned by E. Lynn and Jayne E. Packard in Barber County. Kansas caselaw requires exclusivity as an element for prescriptive uses. The facts in this record reveal that Koch has not had the exclusive use of this roadway over the years and, therefore, the court erred when it ruled that he had a prescriptive easement. Installation of a gate leads to legal...
HILL, J. In our system of ordered liberty, ordinances and statutes regulate the actions of people — while constitutions regulate the actions of states. In this case, we are confronted with the question whether the State has exceeded constitutional bounds by enacting a law making sexual relations between a teacher and student a crime. Charles L. Edwards, a Wichita area high school music instructor, engaged in sexual intercourse with one of his 18-year-old high school students. In this appeal of...
BUKATY, J. Heartland Surgical Specialty Hospital, LLC (Heartland) filed a motion in the district court to vacate an arbitration award against it in favor of William O. Reed, Jr., M.D. The court denied the motion and confirmed the award. Heartland appeals, arguing that the court erred in its ruling because Heartland was denied an evidentiary hearing during the course of the arbitration and the arbitrator engaged in ex parte contact with Reed's counsel that should result in vacating the award....
HILL, J. In this case, the district court dismissed a lawsuit based upon the grounds (among others) of concurrent jurisdiction with the federal court. At first, three corporations started to litigate their contractual disputes in state court in Johnson County. Then, by agreement, the companies moved their disputes to federal court in Kansas. After protracted battles in federal court, one of the parties, HR Technology, Inc. (HRT) filed this petition in Sedgwick County District Court, making...
BRUNS, J. Michael L. Hall was injured when he fell from a ladder while working on a roof for Knoll Building Maintenance, Inc. (Knoll Corporation). The Knoll Corporation is a Kansas for profit corporation, and all of the corporation's shareholders are related to one another. Following his work-related injury, Hall made a claim for workers compensation benefits. His claim was preliminarily denied by an administrative law judge (ALJ), who found that the Kansas Workers Compensation Act (KWCA), K.S....
LEBEN, J. More than 4 years after Osage City had authorized contracts to participate in a federal rails-to-trails project, Bissessarnath Ramcharan-Maharajh submitted petitions seeking to put the project before the voters for approval — or disapproval — in a referendum. But referendums are available in Kansas only when specifically authorized by statute, and no statute authorized the referendum Ramcharan sought. The district court therefore properly dismissed Ramcharan's lawsuit, which sought...
PIERRON, J. The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, (UG) appeals the district court's refusal to overturn an arbitrator's award reducing construction worker Anthony Herron's discharge to a suspension. We affirm. This appeal arises out of the arbitration undertaken by the parties regarding the discharge of an employee of UG's Water Pollution Control Division. The employee, Herron, was protected by the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) previously negotiated...
GREENE, C.J. Marian Riley and her parents, Jack and Julie Riley, appeal the district court's summary judgment against them on their claim against Allstate Insurance Company and Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company (collectively referred to as Allstate) for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits on the parents' Allstate policy after collecting the maximum PIP benefit under Marian's Allstate policy. The Rileys argue that K.S.A. 40-3109(b) is applicable and does not prohibit...
McANANY, J. On May 20, 2009, Cyndi Carr was injured when she was bitten on the ankle by a pit bull owned by Rodney Vannoster while she was on the premises occupied by Rodney. She sued Rodney and Rodney's wife, Mary Vannoster. In her amended petition Carr also asserted negligence claims against Rodney's father, Jim Vannoster, claiming that Jim, who owned the property where Rodney and Mary lived and kept the dog, was negligent in: (1) failing to act on his knowledge that Rodney's dog was...
LEBEN, J. Robert Uhlmann guaranteed the debt of a failed business. A jury decided that Jay and Cynthia Richardson did too, though they had denied having done so. When the business failed, Uhlmann paid the remaining business debt and then sued the Richardsons for their share under two legal theories, contribution and unjust enrichment. The trial judge submitted the unjust-enrichment claim to a jury, and the jury ruled in Uhlmann's favor. The Richardsons have appealed, claiming that the unjust-...
INTRODUCTION HILL, J. This is an appeal from the order of the Kansas Corporation Commission, referred to as the Commission in this opinion, granting the inclusion of $4.5 million for consultant and attorney fees as rate case expenses for Kansas City Power and Light Company, commonly called KCP & L, a public utility regulated by the Commission. In 2005, KCP & L agreed with the Commission and its staff (Staff), along with other interested parties, to provide for the future energy needs of...
HILL, J.: One of the many duties of a county commissioner in Kansas is to decide whether a city's proposed annexation land into the city provides for the orderly growth and development of the entire community, both inside and outside the city. In this appeal, a coalition of landowners seeks the reversal of the resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Johnson County granting an annexation petition of the City of Overland Park. Our review of the record reveals that the Board of...
GREENE, C.J. David A. Barker, assignor of an oil and gas lease to RAMA Operating Company, Inc. (RAMA), appeals the district court's denial of his motion for summary judgment as well as the judgment against him after bench trial for damages totaling $13,356.44 for breach of his covenant to warrant and defend title to the interest conveyed. Concluding RAMA failed to establish at summary judgment that there was a lawful adverse claim against the interest conveyed, there was no actionable breach...
MARQUARDT, J. In 2000, the law firm of Turner and Turner and its principals, Dan and Phillip Turner (Turners), obtained a default judgment in Shawnee County District Court in a contract action against former clients who are members of the Steele family and various Steele family businesses (the Steeles). The Turners had their judgment transcribed in the Greeley County District Court in June 2000. After filing several affidavits of renewal, in 2010 the Turners filed a praecipe in Shawnee County...
HILL, J. In this appeal, we must decide if one joint tenant, 10 days before his death, can effectively destroy a joint tenancy interest in a tract of real estate and replace it with a tenancy in common tenant by signing a quitclaim deed to himself and giving it to his lawyer for recording. Guided by the clearly manifested intent of the party making the conveyance here and because jointly owned property is freely transferable, we hold that the transfer of title was effective upon delivery of...
MARQUARDT, J. Matthew M. Merrill appeals the district court's refusal to remove Patrick Nichols as the case manager and its assessment of Nichols' fees and costs against Merrill. We affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand with directions. Matthew and Nancy Merrill filed cross-petitions for divorce in mid-2004. The district court granted the divorce on October 12, 2004, but retained jurisdiction over child custody, child support, and division of marital property. Throughout...
PIERRON, J. Kingsley Uwadia appeals the district court's denial of his motion for new trial. He argues the court erred in finding the deposition statute was not violated and trial counsel was not ineffective. We affirm. Uwadia was charged with criminal threat against Joel Womochil, Edward Jones, Eugene R. Williams, and Shawn Madsen, stemming from an incident at a Sedgwick County nightclub. Before trial, the State moved for admission of Womochil's video deposition at trial on grounds that he...
MARQUARDT, J. A mortgage foreclosure action was filed by CoreFirst Bank & Trust against JHawker Capital, LLC (JHawker) on property in a Junction City subdivision development commonly referred to as Mann's Ranch. CoreFirst named Linda and James David Alexander (the Alexanders) as defendants in the foreclosure action because of their interests claimed in the Affidavit of Equitable Interest (affidavit) in the real estate recorded with the register of deeds in Geary County on April 2, 2007. The...
GREEN, J. Kelly Giles (Kelly), a general partner in a family farming partnership, filed suit against the partnership and his partners, arguing that he had not been provided access to partnership books and records. The remaining members of the partnership then filed a counterclaim requesting that Kelly be dissociated from the partnership. The trial court held that Kelly was not denied access to the partnership books and records. Kelly does not appeal from this decision. Moreover, the trial...
